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After coaching 600+ SDRs I’ve found the biggest challenge isn’t the fact you can’t cold call, send great emails or build a top notch list.

It’s using the time you have each day to its maximum potential.

Like everything, I think this is a skill we need to be taught but also invest time into the master.

In this newsletter I’ll outline my 5 favourite time management strategies and when I have used them.

Lets dive in.

Strategy 1: Friday Prep Hour:

Personally, I never bought into the whole ‘‘prep your week on a Sunday’’ thing and I found coming in on a Monday and spending time then prepping didn’t get me off to the start I wanted.

If you’re like me you probably feel at your least motivated on a Monday morning. The first thing I needed to do was to get a result under my belt NOT spend loads of time in meetings and preparing.

So I switched my prep time from Monday to last thing on a Friday. This meant I could wrap-up for the entire weekend, reset and then 9am Monday know exactly what I wanted to execute on.

Strategy 2: Weekly Calendar Audit: 

Has anyone else sat in meetings thinking ‘why the hell am I here’ or ‘I need to crack on with my target I’m already behind’. Me too.

I’ve never seen the point in 100s of internal meetings. Sure collaboration and relationship building is important but you can be the best at collaboration and miss target.

Every week on a Friday (as part of my prep) I look ahead of the following week and delete or bump any meetings that aren’t absolutely necessary.

When I was an SDR Leader I used to encourage reps to do the same. We played a game called Delete, Bump, Attend. For every 3 meetings they had they had to pick 1 of the 3 options.

We found reducing meetings had dramatic impacts on activity metrics and results. Why? Less context switching = more focus and better prioritisation.

Strategy 3: Aeroplane Mode

This is one of the best changes I made to my daily schedule.

At first I thought I needed my phone on always because ‘what if prospects call me back' but the problem was they never did and I ended up spending hours a day on WhatsApp and Social Media.

This consistent context switching was leading me to loose 1-2 hours a productivity per day (more some reps I’ve coached even more).

As a test have a look at your screen time during working hours. You’ll be shocked at how much time you get back just by putting aeroplane mode on for a few hours.

I recommend you start with 1-hour on aeroplane mode and notice how many times you pick up your phone.

To make this a habit I set a reminder in my calendar from 9-10am. I then built the habit up over time to not using my phone 9am-1pm.

Strategy 4: The Pomodoro Technique

I’d never heard of this until maybe a few months ago but it’s changed the game for me in so many ways.

Essentially you do 25 minutes of deep focused work with a 5 minute break. You can repeat as many times as you like in a row.

My ‘work type’ is high execute aka I like to feel like I am making progress quickly.

The 25 minutes of focused work is just enough for me to get a task done but also feel good that I get 5 mins for a cup of tea.

Try it the next time you do a call out. Rather than saying I will do 20 calls, say you’ll call for 25 minutes. I bet you do more calls than 20.

Strategy 5: Reduce Context Switching

Multitasking isn’t just difficult. It’s inefficient. When you switch context you are forcing your brain to slow down, adjust and ramp up again.

I used to try and do this for my outbound tasks. Constantly switching between calls, email and Linkedin. Not anymore. It’s one at a time until the task is done.

Throw in The Pomodoro Technique and I focused on ONE task aka calling for 25 minutes. Take 5 mins for a brew and reset then if that task is complete I switch to another one for 25 minutes.

Less tasks, repeatedly executed = mastery.

Hope this helps.

Quick Summary:

The biggest problem you have is usually your inability to manage your time properly.

Time management is more than a few calendar blocks its a skill you need to master in order to get the most from your days.

This Week’s Action Step:

Try one of the strategies above and respond to this email letting me know which is your favourite.

Good luck!!

My Next Product - Update:

If you missed it last week, I will be launching a digital course in January 2023.

It’ll be:

1. Self-paced

2. One skill area

3. 2-3 hours of content

4. Yours forever and ever

I’ll release what the course is on in the next couple of weeks.

Watch this space.

Weekly Send-Off:

I hope you all have a great weekend. It’s my sisters birthday so I’m off to see family!

Until next Friday at 1.05pm, au revoir from me, Bridge, and Isaac 🙂 

PS. Use coupon code DISCOUNT200 to get £200 off my bootcamps.

Whenever you’re ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:

—> SDR Leader Bootcamp - The next leader bootcamp will be in January. Join 50+ others and save your seat here.

—> SDR>AE Skills Bootcamp - The next bootcamp will be in January. Join 50+ others and save your seat here.